Antigua, Guatemala ? Depositors from the Caribbean to South America tried and failed to withdraw money from Stanford International Bank and its affiliates, as the effects of U.S. fraud charges against Texas financier R. Allen Stanford spread across the globe.

Depositors walked away empty-handed Wednesday from the bank’s headquarters in Antigua after rushing to the Caribbean island only to be told their accounts were frozen and no money could be released.

Banking regulators throughout Latin America are scrambling to contain the damage after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed civil fraud charges against the billionaire on Tuesday. Regional Director Rose Romero of the SEC’s Fort Worth office called it a “fraud of shocking magnitude that has spread its tentacles throughout the world.”

U.S. regulators have accused Stanford, two other executives and three of their companies of luring investors with promises of “improbable and unsubstantiated” high returns on certificates of deposit and other investments.